Clearing Out the Cobwebs

Spring Cleaning for the Body and Mind   

Spring is a transitional time of year.  Daffodils and hyacinths dot the highways while peonies barely push out of the ground.  The weather switches from cold to hot, wet to dry on any given day.  Our bodies also feel this shift with mood changes, sleep needs and dietary wants.  For instance, on a cool, cloudy spring day, one may find himself wanting to sleep in later, feeling more lethargic during the day and craving a warm soup for dinner.  However, when the weather changes to to a balmy 80 degrees, one instantly feels energized and may want to fire up the grill with fresh spring vegetables.  This shift creates an unbalance in the body resulting in irritation and possible sickness.

Both Ayurveda and yoga help balance our mind and body.  Right now, many of us are beginning to rake out flower beds, spread grass seed, wash windows and outdoor furniture.  This is a perfect time of the year to clear out the cobwebs within ourselves because our bodies are naturally shedding off excess weight and emotions preparing for a hot summer.

A regular yoga asana (posture) practice will help tone and strengthen the bones and muscles.  Amp up your current practice or add more practices to your schedule at home or the studio.  Now is the time that your body can handle a more intense workout while during the hot, summer months, it will crave a cooler, more gentle workout.  Try incorporating a popular sequence like Sun Salutation A into your morning routine.  It's a great sequence for all body types and can be modified to your level.

In addition to an asana practice, adding pranayama (breathing) and meditation will help calm the mind for the day ahead.  Controlling our breath helps take control of a situation.  Imagine you are driving your car to an appointment.  There is an accident ahead and you will likely be late to your appointment because of it.  Notice how your breath begins to grow shallower and your body temperature rises.  You can take hold of the situation simply by bringing your awareness to your breath.  Start by simply making your inhalations the same length as your exhalations by counting to 3 on each.

Begin your morning with a simple meditation practice.  Whether you have 30 minutes or five minutes, meditation in the morning is possible.  Find a quiet and comfortable space in your home - your recliner, the porch, in front of a sunny window.  Settle yourself into a seated posture - however you can sit for the time you allot.  Set a timer so you do not think about being late for work.  Close your eyes and begin to breathe in and out through the nose.  Notice how the breath sounds a bit like the March winds we've experienced.  Thoughts like to-do lists will pop in your head.  Don't fight the thoughts.  Allow them to appear and float away like a cloud.  With practice, you will noticed how much easier it is to control your thoughts.  Don't be hard on yourself - any meditation is better than no meditation.

Ayurveda, the sister science of yoga and oldest medical system in the world, believes most diseases start with poor digestion.  Eating the right foods for your body will help it function better alleviating symptoms like indigestion, allergies, disturbed sleep and chronic pain.  Twice a year, Ayurveda encourages detoxing to help reset the body's digestion system.  The Himalayan Institute is offering a free guided spring cleanse for those interested in changing their diet.

Take advantage of this time of year.  Experts claim you can create a new habit in as little as 30 days.  Whether you choose one method or all, you will feel lighter and brighter just like spring.

Keep Your Eyes to Yourself

Keep Your Eyes to Yourself
Creating Body Awareness   

Sweat begins to drip from my stiff arms in Warrior 1.  My hamstrings smell like bacon from all of the cooking and holding we're doing.  And why does that one girl in the front have a smile on her face and look like she's attending a spa day.  What am I doing wrong?  Why doesn't my yoga look like hers? Ouch!  I think I just pulled a muscle.    

Recently, the New York Times released an article entitled "How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body."  This was a spin off a highly regarded yoga teacher's new book launch.  First, let's answer the main question - Can yoga hurt you?  Yes, but also note that picking up your laundry basket, walking down a flight of stairs and joining in a pick-up game of basketball can also hurt you.  If you lack awareness of what you are doing, you can harm yourself.

No one will ever know your body better than yourself.  What feels good to one person may bring tears to another.  We all have our strengths and weaknesses.  Some yogis are blessed with open hips while others enjoy a flexible and bendy spine.  Do not get frustrated that your body is unwilling to be in a posture today.  It can take days, weeks, months and yes, years before you feel that certain "Aha" moment.

Listen and honor your body.  During your next yoga practice, take the time to really listen to your body.  Notice the breath while you are holding an asana (pose).  Is it shallow and rapid or long and tranquil?  How should you adjust your body to slow the breath?  That could mean coming down to your knee in a pose or not bending as far.  Next, scan the body for any tension.  Do you feel stress in your low back while pressing up into cobra, or did you skip cobra and race into upward facing dog?  Come back and take the pose from its roots feeling each krama (stage) as you progress.

As a teacher and former beginner student, I know the urge to want to "do it right" and quickly progress to higher levels.  Yoga at its core is about connecting the mind and the body.  Knowing when to push and when to back off is honoring your body.  Letting your eyes gaze over to another mat and following another student's practice is not.  I encourage everyone to remember a time when they were just learning something new - riding a bike, learning a foreign language or setting up a Facebook account.  Understand the little steps you took to finally achieve the task at hand.  Now, take that approach with your yoga practice.  Break down a pose; start from the bottom and work your way up.  Already at the top?  Go back and revisit each stage.  I'm positive you'll enjoy a new experience throughout the body.

Stay safe, and always remember to listen.  You're likley to be right!

Love is in the Air

Love is in the Air
Love Yourself, Love the World   

"Did my heart love til now?  Forswear it sight!  For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night." - William Shakespeare, "Romeo and Juliet"  Ah, February, the month of love and Valentine's Day.  Who tells love better than Hallmark?  Shakespeare himself.  In "Romeo and Juliet," the star-crossed lovers lose sight of all hatred between their families and see into each other's hearts.  They will stop at nothing not even death to demonstrate that love is more powerful than any other emotion.  (Sorry if I've ruined the story for anyone!)  

The Dalai Lama once said anything that is not love is fear.  Seeing this emotion as fear rather than hatred or anger may make it easier to forgive yourself and others.  Often, we feel anger towards another person, but at the root we are fearful of what they say, do or stand for.  Push aside your judgements and hear people as they speak from their hearts.  You may notice they too are feeling the same as you do.

Practice this Loving-Kindness Meditation to experience true love and happiness.   Inhale and exhale through your heart. Recall a moment when you were truly happy.  Savor and experience this feeling as it floods though your veins.  Recite the following:
May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I be peaceful.
May I be healthy.
May I be happy.
Repeat over and over surrounding yourself in loving-kindess.  When you are ready, change the "I" to someone you are trying to forgive.  Set an intention to wrap the person in the love you created in your heart.(source: Yoga International magazine)

"There is no remedy for love but to love more" - Henry David Thoreau.  Create the world in which you want to live in - peaceful, calm, loving, caring - by loving yourself.  

To Teach or Not To Teach

Last year, I enrolled in a 200-hour yoga teacher training program.  I had mixed feelings about whether or not I really wanted to teach yoga.  Yoga was my release and escape from the hustle and bustle of life.  Would I grow to despise it if I taught it too?

I decided to not put any pressure on myself and consider this training as a way for me to deepen my own practice.  As a golfer may go to golf school to learn how to swing, I wanted to learn how to practice the asanas (poses) correctly and safely. 

The spiritual side of yoga and I have collided many times with me usually pushing it away.  However, I let the teacher training program expose me month-by-month at what I was missing in my daily practice.  Pranayama (breathing) and meditation soon became the foundation of my home practice with asanas second.

I cannot believe how nine months can change one’s thinking.  By the end, I wanted to teach and spread the joys I experienced.  Seeing a student have an “Aha” moment or reading an email from a client that states “I’ve never felt so relaxed in just 60 minutes,” melts my heart.

Whether you decide to teach or not, yoga teacher training will change your life.  And I can tell you for the better.    

Keeping Up with the Jones'

Everyone knows that person that seems to have no negative qualities and can do no wrong.  Heck - it seems like nothing bad every happens to her.  She has a loving family, a thriving job, attentive children, a clean house and drives a new BMW.  Her life simply appears easy, joyful and loving.  We long to have her family, her house, her personality, her life.

When we attach ourselves to ideals like these, we set our self up for failure.  We are all human.  We all make mistakes or deal with downfalls.  When we long for what the Jones' have, we begin to think 'we are not good enough, we don't have enough, we don't fit into that group.'  We are living in a dream state not reality.

Let go.  Let go of the need to be someone else and just be you.  Let go of the notion that the grass is greener somewhere else.  Each of us possess wonderful talents.  Listen closely inside your heart and let your inner light shine.

In life, there are no pedestals - we are all walking on the same ground together.  When we realize this, we can grow as an individual and let go of our ego.  Let go and find new wholeness with our self and our relationships.

Acupuncture - Is it for everyone?

As a yoga teacher, I get questions about all sorts of alternative healing methods like acupuncture.  Does it really work?  Does it hurt?  I decided it was time to try it out and give a review to my friends and family.

First step - Finding the right practicer.  You can check the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine's page for listed practicers or you can ask around.  Word of mouth is the best way to find somebody good.

I met Kara "Shamsa" Houck, licensed acupuncturist and owner of S.U.F.I Acupuncture in downtown Hagerstown, MD back in July.  I attended one of her free weekly heart opening meditations.  (This should be an entire blog itself!)  Shamsa and I connected immediately.  She studied the art of acupuncture at Tai Sophia and the University of Sufism and Spiritual Healing.

S.U.F.I. Acupuncture is different from most acupuncture practices.  It is a community style practice with a sliding scale.  In her practice you'll find one room for all patients.  Everyone is fully clothed and finds their special recliner.  The sliding scale refers to payment.  She lets the clients choose how much to pay varying from $15-$40.  For instance, clients visiting once a month may pay $40 while someone needing acupuncture 3x a week may pay $15 a visit.  It makes acupuncture affordable to everyone.

In comparison, a typical acupuncture consultation would be in a private office where you may or may not need to remove clothing articles and can cost upwards of $70 a visit.

On the day of my appointment, I googled acupuncture, and immediately saw a picture of the needles.  I began to grow anxious for my appointment.  Shamsa asked me to fill out medical forms to determine my treatment.  I think she asked more questions that my gynecologist asks me each year!

After she reviewed my information, she took my pulse on both wrists listening for five heartbeats that signify an element. In the five element theory, each of the five elements has a season and particular organs and senses associated with it, such as taste, color, sound. The wood element, for example, is associated with spring, the liver, and the gall bladder.   Similarly, the fire element is associated with early summer, the heart, and small intestines; the earth element corresponds to late summer, the stomach and spleen; metal is associated with autumn, the lungs and large intestine; and water is associated with winter, the kidneys and bladder.  She deduced I had strong beats from fire and metal which explained why I've always had breathing difficulties (asthma).

We decided to tackle my nasal congestion on my first visit.  She led me to the room where a gentleman was already relaxing with his eyes shut.  She brought the needles over and showed them to me before placing any in my body.  They are as thick as a strand of hair (not thick at all!).  She placed the first needle in my left wrist.  It pinched only for a second but then the feeling disappeared.  She proceeded to add a needle in the tops of both feet and the shin of my right leg.  She added two needs to my left wrist.  Again, mild pinching, and no feeling after.  Shamsa then placed a needle between my eyes that gave a more prominent sting.  The last two on either side of my nostrils were the most painful bringing tears to my eyes.  Again, the needles were but a quick sting and then felt as if they disappeared.

Shamsa told me to relax my hands in any way that I chose and close my eyes for the next 45 minutes.  For those of you that know me, I am a petite person and I must have chosen the largest (widest) recliner because it was uncomfortable for me to balance my arms on the arm rest.  I would suggest bringing a blanket next time to prop under my arms.

Jealous of the gentleman gently snoring, I spent the whole 45 minutes awake with my eyes shut. I tried to turn it into a meditation, but lacked focus.  Maybe because it was my first time I could not relax.  I did notice warm sensations at some of the needle sites.  Two other patients entered the room, but I did not hear them or Shamsa.

When she gently tapped me to indicate my session was over, I felt as if she had awaken me from a deep sleep.  How is that possible when I felt like I was fighting to relax?  Acupuncture?  I did notice my nose seemed clearer and breathing was easier.  But most of all, I felt a total relaxation across my entire body.

Does acupuncture work?  I'm on the side that says yes over multiple sessions.  For as little as $15, you can give it a shot!

Have you ever tried acupuncture?  How was your experience?

Summer Love

Give yourself permission to relax, recharge and love yourself.  

Ahh, summertime!  It brings up visions of children running through sprinklers, drinking frozen lemonade on a white, sandy beach, and catching fireflies in mason jars before being called to bed.   Oh, remember the days when your only responsibility was to make sure your teeth were brushed before heading outside?  Yes, we've grown up, and we now have adult jobs and adult responsibilites.  But does that mean we can't ever relive a scrumptous lazy summer day from our youth?

Apparently, Americans do not feel we can allow ourselves to take a break.  We work hard every day even into the wee hours of the night.  The average paid vacation time is two weeks, but most folks don't even take the days they are given.  Have we forgotten how to relax?  Or do we feel guilty spending an entire day of essentially doing nothing?

As we enter into August, the last month of summer before school starts and Expedia summer deals end, give yourself permission to relax.  If you cannot get away, spend a few hours at the City Park, read that best-selling novel that has been sitting on your coffee table, or purchase a special pampering service like a massage just for you.  Allowing yourself to relax recharges and rejunvenates your body.  Love yourself.  The best gift you can give your family is a healthy you!  Start today and drip with love rather than sweat this summer!